The Guardian

Evernight
Publishing ®

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright©
2015 Sara Anderson

 
ISBN: 978-1-77233-329-9
    

Cover Artist: Jay
Aheer

Editor:
Karyn
White

ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or
distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.
 
No part of this book may be used or
reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the
case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters,
and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales,
organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

I would like to thank the following people:

To my readers who send me messages and encourage me
to keep writing. Thank you, I appreciate it so much.

To my beta readers, Gayle,
Kytyn
,
and Rae.
You all have been invaluable
to me.

Last but not least is my husband. His encouragement
and love means more than I could ever express in words.

THE GUARDIAN

Wild Mountain
Shifters, 1

Sara Anderson

Copyright ©
2015

Chapter
One

Cassie Morgan stared up at the stars and marveled at
how bright they were out here in the mountains. She had never seen them this
clear in Denver. A smoke alarm blared inside the cabin, snatching her attention
back with a jolt.

“Shit.” She ran back in through the screen door to the
kitchen where she left the steaks cooking. “It’s okay,” she yelled to Marcy.
“The steaks didn’t burn, just the grease on the edges.”

“Uh huh, I guess you were out stargazing again. I told
you it was spectacular up here. Aren’t you glad I suggested we come?” Marcy
yelled from the shower.

“Yes, I will never argue again. This place is far
better than some hotel in Colorado Springs.” Cassie moved the pan off of the
gas burner and flipped the steaks to keep that side from over-browning on the
hot iron skillet.

 
The shower
turned off. “Now you know to never doubt my knowledge of awesome vacation
spots.”

Cassie had no idea how Marcy had found this place. She
had looked on the map and GPS and still never found a town. The microwave
beeped, letting her know the potatoes were done. She would worry about
mysterious towns later. “You are the master, hurry up and get some clothes on. Dinner
is ready.”

   
“I’ll be
right out.” Marcy came out wrapped in towels and headed to the bedroom they
shared. They saved a ton of money by getting a one bedroom with two full size
beds instead of a two bedroom cabin. They had come out here to get some peace
and rest away from the crazy life of the city. They didn’t need separate
bedrooms to do that.

   
Cassie set
out the plates and silverware on the table. The window was open, but the night
air was getting chilly. It was amazing how, even in late August, the mountain
air would get cold at night. She was tempted to start a fire, but decided it
was too much work. She walked over to the window to close it. She leaned down
and heard branches cracking outside. There was something huge out there in the
woods.

“I hope it isn’t a bear that plans on trying to get
into the car,” she muttered then closed and locked the window.

 
Whatever it
was couldn’t open the window, but she wasn’t taking any chances.

   
“It smells
wonderful,” Marcy said while straightening her pajama top. Her brown hair was
damp and smelled of the shampoo she loved.

“Thank you, I just barely saved it. I can’t believe
the stars out here.” Cassie put a steak and potato on each plate.

Marcy grabbed her plate and the DVD remote to play the
movie they had agreed on earlier. She claimed her spot on the couch, and set
her food on the coffee table. “I wish we could come up here more often. There
is so much wildlife out here. Speaking of that, I think there is a big mountain
lion out there, or something. I heard it in the woods while I was brushing my
hair. I hope you locked up, just in case.”

“Yeah, I heard it, too. Sounded big,” Cassie said
while taking the armchair. She wondered why she would need to lock the door to
keep an animal out. They could not turn doorknobs, but the plot of the movie
picked up distracting her. They ate and watched the movie never realizing they
were being watched.

****

Lucas watched two females in the old cabin that used
to belong to Barry Hewitt. He shifted back to his wolf form and crept closer to
the cabin. If one of them spotted him, they wouldn’t think anything of a wolf
out here at night. A naked man would definitely have them calling the police.

He had caught the scent of cooking meat and wandered
over to see who was there. This place did not have humans often. It was a
fishing cabin for a man who used to live in the area. Barry and Irene had died
a few years ago, and it went up for sale. They’d had a daughter, who had moved
away years ago, but Lucas
was
unaware the cabin had
been sold. Outsiders did not know of this place, and those that did know, did
not like the remoteness of the cabin.

 
He usually left
the pathetic humans who came to his land alone. They were not worth the trouble
they caused.

Lucas had spotted a female with light brown hair
standing outside the cabin. Was she here with her mate?
 
He’d decided to circle the cabin a few times
to check for any sign of males around. There was another human in the bathroom
shower. The large window was frosted, but still he could tell it was a female.
He sat on his haunches, grinning. Stupid human females, they were here
completely unprotected. If he was the evil sort, he could simply wait for them
to fall asleep and have his fun with them for the night. Although, it had been
a long time since he had a woman, he still had many of his abilities. He could
make one or both of the ladies willing to fuck, even make them beg. That way
there would be no issues with the guardian of the territory accusing him of
forcing helpless females. If he decided to kill them later, then human law
enforcers would assume wild animals had attacked them. He would have his
appetite sated and clear of any problems with guardians or
cholan
.

  
The female in
the bathroom turned out the light and walked into the kitchen. Even with his
enhanced senses he could not get a good look at her through the flimsy
curtains.
Who the
fuck
are
they?

  
As the two women
sat down to eat, he listened to their conversation, and Lucas got his first
good look at the one with dark brown haired one, and snarled with hatred. No
way would she dare return to his mountain. He’d warned her he would rip her
throat out if she ever came near his territory again; he had meant it
. I am going to kill her, tonight. Fucking
rip her to
pieces,
show her what pain and suffering
feel like. How dare she come back here after the shifters she had killed and
maimed!

 
The slight
smell of magic wafted to him, shaking him out of his hate filled rant.
 
The female that he had seen stargazing
earlier had the presence in her.
Presence,
ha, it is fucking alchemy, or magic, not some presence or essence.
 
Some shifters were too motherfucking poetic.
He had always called it what it was, Goddess-damned magic. A plan formed while
he waited for them to settle into bed for the night. He sniffed the air and
caught a stronger scent of magic.
Interesting,
the lighter brown haired one is a
halfling
. I could
change her and keep her. Maybe a companion would relieve some of the ache in my
chest.
That would be
a fitting
reparation for the
way he had been treated.

  
He had been
so lonely since their Goddess,
Ilithyia
, cast him out
of his territory.
Thank you for your
service to shifters. Now be gone with you
... “A lot of thanks I get for
ridding our lands of the humans that want to kill us.”

His anger rose as he thought of the shifters going to
Michael to complain about his tactics. He had every right to rid the territory
of those humans, and they had no right to judge his actions as being out of
control, stripping him of everything.

Ilithyia
and her favored
guardian, Michael, were going to pay dearly for what they had done to him. They
knew the pain a shifter felt by being cast out of the territory. They cared
nothing for what he had lost. Fucking Michael had the Goddess-damn nerve to
tell him to move on like Lana had. Lucas felt it was so unfair that Michael was
not mated. If he was, he would take his mate from him, so he could see for
himself how it felt.

The only ally to Lucas was a mystery to him.
 
He didn’t know the man’s real name, or what
he really looked like. They spoke over the burner phones mostly. The strange
man said he had a way to bring the shifter town to their knees, aiding Lucas in
his revenge. Lucas was never given any further information, nor did he care to
know of his plans. He just knew the shifter tended to rant on like an evil
psychopath. If Lucas decided revenge was not for him, he would take the fucker
down. Lucas had given him the title of “
the
fucker”.

Lucas had decided that his current predicament with “the
fucker” was Michael’s fault as well. Instead of supporting him, Michael had
punished him. Instead of trying to understand him, he’d looked down on him as
if he was weak. Michael told
Ilithyia
he had suffered
a mental breakdown, and she fucking agreed with him, like she always did. Told Michael
Lucas had
a darkness
in his essence. “There they went
again with that stupid fucking word.
 
It’s
alchemy, or magic, maybe even witchcraft. Fucking
essence sounds like a kid thought it up.” Lucas ranted, but since he was in
wolf form it came out as snarls and growls. Stupid, weak Goddess was too
compassionate to do what was necessary, so he would do it for her. That
murdering bitch, sitting in her little house, watching her little TV, was going
to die.

  
He had to
bide his time though. If he got reckless, then shifter law would step in and
have him hunted down and killed, and he had no plans to die by being torn apart
by
cholan
protectors. They even protected the
worthless fucking humans in the territory.
Ilithyia
gave
cholan
enhanced senses, better than the average
shifters’, to hunt down those who went feral, were attacked by
morchain
wraiths, and traitors that were dangerous to other
shifters. The
Kelach
of the
cholan
had the most enhanced senses. The
Kelach
here Lucas believed
was also the sheriff, Cole something or other. Michael’s fucking friend, of
course!

The two females moving shook Lucas out of his musing.
They had finished their meal and were cleaning up. It was close to the time he
would attack. He was going to kill that
bitch, that
he
was certain of. The other one, however, he wasn’t. Surely the bitch was here to
harm shifters and if he killed her, he would not be punished for it. The other
one, he wasn’t sure of. He would decide once he had her under him.

He followed them around the cabin to watch them and
plan how his evening would go. He saw the metal trash can a split second too
late. He hit it, and it toppled over, clanging loudly. His plans would be
ruined if they locked up the house and he had to break in. Humans would easily
suspect a break-in.
 
Lucas could do
without a bunch of human law enforcers traipsing around looking for a killer.
His plans were just tossed into the fire now.

****

Cassie washed the dishes while she listened to her
playlist on her phone. The beat of the drums from the rock song made it easy to
work to. Trash cans
toppled
over outside making her
turn to talk to Marcy. “That animal is still out there.” Cassie opened the
curtain to see out the window. It was far too dark in the wilderness of the
mountains to see anything. She thought for sure the animal would have moved on
by now.

Marcy walked over to open the door. “I am sure that
clatter scared it away. I will go and clean it up and put the lid on so we do
not attract more furry friends tonight.”

Cassie returned to washing the day’s dishes. She
picked up a salad plate while Marcy went out to clean up the toppled trash
cans. Marcy let out a terrified scream, slamming the door shut. The door
crashed into the kitchen wall, shattering the glass. Cassie spun around,
dropping the plate she was rinsing. It clattered to the floor, shattering.
There, standing in the doorway was a wolf with a mixture of black and grey fur.
Its menacing teeth bared, it snarled and snapped at Marcy. Time stood still for
a moment while Cassie stood transfixed, looking at the animal. Its soulless black
eyes had the look of pure hatred. She hoped for a moment that it would run
away, but instead it moved in one leap and landed on top of Marcy. Bigger than
any wolf she had ever seen before, the thing was massive, and it was attacking
her best friend. Marcy was screaming and trying to protect herself from his
vicious teeth that had bitten down into her.

“Marcy!” Cassie screamed, grabbing a steak knife off
of the drying rack and kicked a chair out of her way to attack the wolf. The
wolf snarled at her, making her freeze. She could feel terror hitting her in
waves as if it was emanating off of the animal. It hit her with such an
intensity it made her want to run instead of try to save Marcy. Cassie tried to
fight off the fear and sudden paralysis to attack the wild animal in their
kitchen.

The air shimmered and blurred. Cassie stood transfixed
at the sight. There, in front of her, was a wolf and a man coexisting in the
same place for a moment. The wolf snarled, but as it did, it turned into a
human snarl. Cassie blinked. Suddenly the wolf was no longer a wolf, but a
naked man. He had dark brown, almost black hair and black soulless eyes. His
eyes looked at her as if they could see right through her.

 
“Put the knife
down,” he ordered her in a mesmerizing tone.

As if he had taken control of her, she dropped the
knife.